He inclined his head a regal inch and disappeared.
“I hate it when people keep doing that!” She shouted, but there was no one to hear her. What the hell was going on? Was Vadim really the monster his father painted him, or simply misunderstood? Despite all his bravado and the excellence of his shields, she’d felt the Fae’s fear of Vadim’s power. Was he really a toxic weapon that was out of control?
She sat down suddenly on the floor. Did it matter? She’d been feared her whole life, and it hadn’t meant she was a bad person. Had Vadim had any more control over what he’d become than she had? The Fae king had tried to shock her into turning against her mate, but she wasn’t convinced. Hadn’t he left Otherworld to avoid all that? Hadn’t he tried to change? Which was more than she had ever done. Unless he’d been deceiving her all along...
“Thank God, the king’s gone.”
It was Rossa again, a cloak over his usual nakedness.
“What do you want?” Ella demanded. “And why the fuck didn’t you tell me about Vadim being the big bad fairy of Otherworld?”
“The king told you about that, did he?” Rossa pulled a face. “Cygnet swore me to secrecy, and he’s the more powerful being.”
“You’re such a wuss.”
Rossa drew himself up. “I simply have a healthy respect for the continuation of my lifespan.”
“So help me get out of this mess!”
“Here’s the thing. I promised cygnet I’d take care of you.” He glanced around the dungeon. “Believe it or not, this is actually the safest place for you right now. It’s so heavily warded that neither Adam nor the sect can get in here.”
“So what?”
“While you’re safely contained, there’s something else I need to tell you. The other night, cygnet gave me a message for his family that if you were a victim of Adam’s, he would personally spill their blood.”
“So that’s why they’re so desperate to keep me away from him and all chained up.”
“Not exactly. The thing is—they agreed to do what he demanded. I took their message back to cygnet last night, but he’d already disappeared.”
“And what about Adam?”
“He was supposed to agree to it as well.”
Ella pictured her last sight of Vadim, the contemptuous smile sure to rile her before he’d disappeared. “The complete idiot!”
“Who?”
“Morosov of course! He must have...” She glared at Rossa. “Just get me out of here, please!”
“Don’t be daft.” His smile was sly. “I don’t need to help you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re mated to cygnet. You work it out.”
And he was gone again. Ella shot to her feet and screamed just for the hell of it. This was why she hated Otherworld so much. Everyone talked in fucking riddles. She glanced down at the manacles around her ankles.
“Hold on a minute. I’m mated to Vadim, and he is the biggest, baddest dude in Otherworld, so...”
She stared down at the chain and focused her thoughts on it. With a strange noise, it shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Holy shit,” she breathed. “I can do this!”
She blasted the other one and picked up her backpack. If Adam couldn’t sense her inside the dungeon, she’d probably not pick up his trail either. Her first goal was to find him and get her face back.
Her reunion with the lying bastard could wait.
“Welcome to my domain, cygnet, or should I call you Death Bringer?”
As the massive door swung open, Adam stood back and bowed, allowing Vadim his first glimpse of the stronghold of the Otherworld sect. It was as impressive as he’d suspected it would be—high towering ceilings, magnificent mosaics and paintings so beautiful they would make one weep. The sect’s arrogance would demand a cathedral-like setting to worship the sordid achievements of a group of Fae who’d lived too long and lost all affinity for what was good and right.
He grimaced at the sanctimonious thought. And what was he? How many creatures had he killed in his egotistical assumption that his father’s word was law? Since arriving in Otherworld, he’d dropped his human shape completely to reveal his true form. There was nothing to hide anymore. Death Bringer was not only his given name, but his bloody legacy. Every time he had to look at Adam, that message was reinforced. Had the male chosen his face with that in mind?
Of course he had.
The door shut behind him, and Vadim turned to Adam.
“Are we to fight here?”
“Oh, we’re not fighting yet. I have something I need to do first.”
Vadim smiled to reveal sharp fangs. In Otherworld, the swan wasn’t the only creature he could shift into. In fact, he could become whatever species he wanted. “And if I don’t agree?”
“You don’t have a choice.”
He drew himself up and felt long-forgotten power flood his veins. He flexed his fingers, felt the visceral tug of his claws. It was like receiving a blood transfusion. He’d been transforming ever since he set foot back in Otherworld. He wasn’t quite at the full extent of his powers yet, but he was getting there. “I think you’ve forgotten whom you are dealing with.”
“You won’t want to destroy me just yet.” Adam drew something out of his pocket, which hovered over his palm.
Rage coalesced in Vadim’s chest, black feathers swirled in the air into a screaming tornado and the building began to shake.
“That is my mate’s face.”
“I know, so don’t kill me. If you do, you’ll never stand a chance of reclaiming it.” He gestured with his other hand. “Would you like to follow me to the trophy room?”
Vadim forced himself to follow, each footstep distinct as he destroyed the delicate tile beneath his feet, but he didn’t care. His rage knew no boundaries. His family had betrayed him. Everyone in Otherworld had betrayed him...
God, Ella...
He’d failed her completely. Was she even alive? In this threatening environment he couldn’t even lower his shields to check the truth of that.
Adam approached the final golden doors at the end of the long hallway. Four trolls and two small black dragons guarded them. He held up his hand and the doors opened, releasing a waft of malignant power that almost made Vadim stagger. He forced his newly discovered empath talents to the back of his mind. He didn’t need to be vulnerable to others’ emotions when his own were threatening to cascade with the speed and ferocity of a national disaster.
The trophy room was well named. Beasts and races of all kinds adorned the crowded walls. He saw three extinct red dragons’ heads and tails, the tusks of a mammoth and the horned skull of the Minotaur. On the shelves below were other “precious” objects. He could only assume Pandora’s box and the Holy Grail were in there somewhere.
Adam held up his prize like a triumphant offering and headed for the farthest wall of the huge room. Vadim had no choice but to follow like a dumb beast. As they approached the wall, he recognized the ghostly floating features of Brad Dailey and Ms. Phelps hovering above two gold plinths. With a great deal of care, Adam leaned forward and carefully placed Ella’s furious face next to the others. She obviously hadn’t been happy about Adam’s face-stealing technique. The sight of her riled expression cooled his temper somewhat and made him able to think.
“There. My task is almost complete. All I require now is her death.”
Even before the words were out of Adam’s lying mouth, Vadim launched himself at him. Magic seemed a poor substitute for the sheer pleasure of strangling the male with his bare hands.